South Africa - Technical production and equipment rental company Lucidity recently made their first lighting purchase comprising of an Avolites Tiger Touch, six Robe Pointes, six Robin 300 LEDWash fixtures, data and cabling. This augments their current stock of LEDForce 18 RGBW, Source 4 Profiles and PARcans.

"We've always focused more on AV and sound," says Paul Newman. "I'm a noise boy at heart not a lighting guy and so emphasis has always been on the audio and AV side, however it was time to finally invest in lighting and so we wanted a fixture that would be versatil

UK - Get some audio cheer this festive season with DiGiCo's 12 Days of Christmas and treat yourself to the chance of winning 12 DiGiCo gifts.

For your chance of winning, all you need to do is visit DiGiCo's Facebook page at facebook.com/DiGiCo.Official.

The fun starts on the 1 December and finishes on the 12th, with a prize to be won each day. To be in with a chance of winning a prize, make sure you follow these simple Rules of Engagement:

•To enter the competition, click on the competition Tab

• En

Russia - Founded by lead singer and only remaining original member Yuri Shevchuk in 1980, DDT is a popular Russian rock band named after the pesticide DDT, and is among the best known and most prolific Russian bands of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The band was recently back on the road again for its current Pellucid tour. Their lighting designer Andrejs Dubkovs (Lumen Art Division) used a grandMA2 full-size console and a MA NPU (Network Processing Unit).

Dubkovs explained his preference for MA control solutions: "I've been working with many lighting boards and b

UAE - Effective October 2014 Eurotruss and Procom ME have signed a master distribution agreement for the Middle East.

Procom ME is established in Dubai with a significant presence in Beirut as well, and specialises in the fields of professional lighting, sound, video and rigging. Leading brands it represents include Clay Paky, Avolites and Meyer Sound. Procom also provides back up by a skilled creative and experienced team, plus comprehensive rigging solutions for all requirements in various fields and locations.

In addition to its turnkey solutions, Procom provides top of the line

Germany - To celebrate 25 years of the Berlin Wall being torn down, a massive day of festivities took place on November 9th, culminating in a major ceremony in front of the iconic Brandenburg Gate.

Some 8,000 helium balloons were released into the night sky over Germany's capital at the culmination of events while GLP's frontline X4 series impression LED automated heads also helped light up the night sky with a real tour de force for the central event - courtesy of the dynamic lightshow designed by Björn Hermann.

Björn Hermann had been commissioned by show director, Sven Sören Be

UK - Four African Heads of State were amongst a raft of distinguished speakers and VIP delegates attending the high profile 2014 Global African Investment Summit (TGAIS), with a keynote speech by First Secretary of State William Hague, at the Savoy Hotel in London. The two-day event was organised by dmg::events, with technical production delivered by Central Presentations Ltd (CPL).

CPL was working for the event organiser dmg::events alongside production company Live Communications. The west Midlands based technical specialist was brought on-board to provide set, lighting, video and a

South Africa - The winner of Idols SA season 10 was announced during a spectacular live finale held at Carnival City Casino and Entertainment Centre on Sunday 23 November. Vincent Bones was voted as the winner of Idols X - the longest running reality show in South Africa.

According to sources from DStv, all previous Idols SA voting records were broken. The total number of votes reached an incredible 24,364,245 compared to 7,253,971 votes that were received last year.

The finale witnessed a variety of guest appearances by popular South African artists as well as surpris

USA - A recent renovation has restored St. Paul's Union Depot to its original 1920s splendour while a new sound system with Community Entasys loudspeakers has brought intelligible voice announcements and clear sound reinforcement to the depot's transit services and its many public events.

Originally completed in 1926, Union Depot served as many as 300 trains and 20,000 passengers each day. But, as passenger rail travel declined, the last train left the depot in 1971 and the historic structure became home to restaurants, offices, and condominiums. Now, after its renovation, the depot a

Germany - Lighting designer Björn Hermann created a spectacular light show at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate to launch a night of celebrations commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago. Choosing to use a mix of Clay Paky SuperSharpy and Mythos fixtures, Hermann delivered a high impact and emotive display that could be seen for miles around.

Washed in vibrant colours, the pillars and architecture of the Brandenburg Gate stood out against the night sky as intense beams of light emanated from varying heights and distances. Hermann was responsible for lighting the citizens' festi

UK - Hawthorn, the independent supplier of technical production services, has named DPA Microphones as its primary mic brand. Established in 1987, Hawthorn employs over 120 staff from offices around the UK and handles over 1,000 events every year, including gala dinners, product launches, conferences and parties.

The company's product portfolio has seen a major investment over the last two years including lighting, sound, AV, rigging, staging and drapes. Among this considerable inventory is a wide range of DPA mics, including d:fine Headset, d:screet 4060 lavalier and d:vote 4099 Inst

UK - Based on a true story as well as the 2010 film of the same name, Made in Dagenham is a new musical comedy at London's Adelphi Theatre about the equal pay strike by the women who made car seats at the London suburb's Ford factory in 1968. The show stars Gemma Arterton as Rita O'Grady.

The action unfolds against a lively soundtrack of 1960s-inspired song and dance numbers and brightly coloured sets. To automate the latter the show's production manager, Matt Towell selected Stage Technologies to supply a 39-axis overhead, stage level and sub-stage automation control system; and sist

UK - Edinburgh-based Black Light helped the world-famous Gleneagles Hotel revamp its flagship conference venue in time for the 2014 Ryder Cup.

The project involved the installation of power, data, sound and lighting systems in the hotel's Gleneagles Suite. This is Gleneagles' premier event space and the location of many high-profile meetings and functions.

"Our work was part of an overall refurbishment of the suite by designers Sedley Place," says Black Light's head of company development, Phil Haldane. "Our role was to help the designers create more flexible lighting

India - The blueFROG in Pune is the latest in India's classy line of blueFROG bars, which have built a reputation in the territory for successfully fusing fine dining, live entertainment, and a lush ambience, all under one roof. Pune is the third blueFROG venue; two successful establishments already exist in Delhi and Mumbai, the latter of which was recently voted in the top 20 bar designs in the world.

The blueFROG mission statement is to make every performance memorable for the artist, production team, and audience, by delivering "an unsurpassable aural and visual experience&qu

Germany - To commemorate 25 years since the collapse of the Berlin Wall, German Chancellor Angela Merkel led Peter Gabriel and the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra in a celebratory spectacle that drew more than 100,000 people to the Brandenburg Gate. To provide utmost clarity for the music and speeches at this monumental milestone, the event organizers chose a Meyer Sound Leo large-scale linear reinforcement system.

"Leo has a slim profile, yet it has a massive sound and incredible output," notes Marcus Mechelhoff, production manager for Berlin-based event management company m

UK - With its relocation to Coombe Abbey Hotel in Warwickshire for next year's Exhibition and Networking Dinner, the ISCE (Institute of Sound and Communications Engineers) has announced a formidable programme of seminars to coincide.

The event, which takes place over two days (3-4 March) with a Networking Dinner as its curtain raiser on day 1 and the exhibition on day 2, continues to expand. "This is one of the reasons we have upgraded the location this year to this luxurious four-star country house hotel," says secretariat manager, Ros Wigmore.

The seminar programme will

Ireland - The Athlone Institute of Technology recently added a high specification Indoor athletics arena to its campus. Representing a €10m investment this IAAF-standard six-lane track surrounded by 1,500 spectator seats, required a sound system that offered high intelligibility.

However, Dublin based Sound Productions were only introduced to the project after it had been completed. According to senior project manager Peadar Carley, the budget was limited and the performance of the PA system specified by the previous contractor had suffered as a result. Sound Productions were therefo

The Netherlands - Bierfabriek Delft needed a versatile, unified sound system that could create the right atmosphere in its three zones. The Bierfabriek experience combines laid-back drinking and dining, plus DJs until late at the weekend. So the speaker system needed to provide high-quality, comfortable sound at all volumes. Plus the venue's reflective surfaces made creating a natural sound a challenge.

Pioneer Pro Audio worked with Bierfabriek's installation partner Discovery Sound & Vision to specify a sound system and EQ settings that overcame these challenges and delivered a warm,

UK - Held at the SSE Hydro, the 2014 MTV EMAs was, as always, one of the biggest nights in the music calendar. For the 12th consecutive year, Sennheiser UK supported Britannia Row Productions in its provision of audio equipment for the event.

The two-hour spectacular was hosted by Nicki Minaj and saw performances from artists including Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande and Charli XCX. Ozzy Ozbourne hailed as 'global icon', three awards went to boy band One Direction, and amongst others there were wins for Ariana Grande for Best Song and Best Female, Just Bieber for Best Male and 5 Seconds of

USA - In its vision statement, Hope Lutheran church in Fargo proclaims its commitment to reaching out "in increasingly innovative ways" to members of its community in North Dakota's largest city. This promise is reflected in the church's enthusiastic participation in imaginative charities like Backpacks for Kids, through which it collected 10,748 weekend meals for school children; and in its Christmas YOU-Tensil Tree that invites worshippers to donate cooking tools for disadvantaged families by hanging ladles, spatulas and the like on an evergreen.

Not surprisingly, w

Germany - When the infamous Berlin Wall finally 'fell' in 1989, it was not only an event of national importance it touched the entire world as a peaceful demonstration led to the end of an authoritarian regime.

The recent celebrations at the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) heralded the slogan 'Mut zur Freiheit' (Courage for freedom). One of the many highlights was the 'Lichtgrenze' (Border of lights), a project tracing 15 kilometres of the former Wall's course with 8,000 white helium filled balloons. To the sound of Beethoven's 9th symphony played by the Staatskapelle Berlin unde

The Netherlands - InfoComm International, co-owner of the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE 2015) tradeshow, has announced its most comprehensive InfoComm University training to date at ISE 2015. ISE 2015 takes place from 10-12 February 2015, at the Amsterdam RAI.

As in previous years, InfoComm is contributing to the drive for increase knowledge by providing members and guest members with unlimited free access to its on-site InfoComm University education programme. Members and guests who pre-register for ISE 2015 using an invitation code will receive complimentary access to seminars of t

UK - Indie rockers Alt-J's new album This is All Yours rocketed straight to number one in the UK and number four on the US charts, and the band has embarked on an international tour in support of this second studio work, complete with a lighting and visual design by New York-based Jeremy Lechterman of Fragment Nine.

Jeremy - known for his fresh, innovative and lateral approach to lighting and several interesting up-and-coming and creative artists prominent on his CV - started using Robe products in his design work earlier this year for O.A.R.'s US summer tour.

For the first U

UK - The back catalogue of composer Hans Zimmer reads a little like a review of some the best films of the last 20 years. Academy Award winner for The Lion King in 1994; Grammy Awards for The Crimson Tide and The Dark Knight through to the WAFCA Award for 12 Years a Slave in 2013, the list is quite remarkable. So the opportunity to see the man in action with a live orchestra at a venue like the Hammersmith Apollo is one not to be missed.

Lighting such a special event fell into the safe hands of designer Marc Brickman and it was PRG who were contracted to su

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